The Wave in the Mind Audiobook By Ursula K. Le Guin cover art

The Wave in the Mind

Talks and Essays on the Writer, the Reader, and the Imagination

Preview

Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Wave in the Mind

By: Ursula K. Le Guin
Narrated by: Christina Moore
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $21.49

Buy for $21.49

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

Join Ursula K. Le Guin as she explores a broad array of subjects, ranging from Tolstoy, Twain, and Tolkien to women's shoes, beauty, and family life. With her customary wit, intelligence, and literary craftsmanship, she offers a diverse and highly engaging set of stories.

The Wave in the Mind includes some of Le Guin's finest literary criticism, rare autobiographical writings, performance-art pieces, and most centrally, her reflections on the arts of writing and reading.

©2004 Ursula K. Le Guin (P)2018 Recorded Books
Essays Literary History & Criticism Philosophy Social Sciences Nonfiction
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about The Wave in the Mind

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    46
  • 4 Stars
    12
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    46
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    43
  • 4 Stars
    10
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Essential Reading

This woman was a rare genius. Very generous of her to write so many surprisingly accurate ideas.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Thoughtful, literate, intelligent, heartfelt

The essays in this book are interesting, surprising, and thought-provoking. The inquiring mind, disciplined thinking, and mastery of words possessed by the author come through clearly.

The narrator is perfectly suited to the material. Her phrasing and intonation fit the complex sentence structure and discursive narrative of the essays perfectly.

HEY AUDIBLE: YOU NEED MORE NARRATORS LIKE THIS. I HAVE PURCHASED (AND IN TWO CASES RETURNED) BOOKS WHERE A LARGE PART OF THE PROBLEM WAS NARRATORS WHO HAD NO IDEA WHERE SENTENCES STARTED OR STOPPED, OR HOW THEY FLOWED. IF THEY CAN'T READ THE MATERIAL PROPERLY, WHY ARE YOU PAYING THEM?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

chapter titles

Personal matters --
Introducing myself --
Being taken for granite --
Indian uncles --
My libraries --
My island --
On the frontier --
Readings --
All happy families --
Things not actually present: On the book of fantasy and J.L. Borges --
Reading young, reading old: Mark Twain's diaries of Adam and Eve --
Thinking about Cordwainer Smith --
Stress-rhythm in poetry and prose --
Rhythmic pattern in The Lord of the rings --
The wilderness within: The sleeping beauty and "the poacher" --
Off the page: loud cows: a talk and a poem about reading aloud --
Discussions and opinions --
Fact and/or/plus fiction --
Award and gender --
On genetic determinism --
About feet --
Dogs, cats, and dancers: thoughts about beauty --
Collectors, rhymesters, and drummers --
Telling is listening --
The operating instructions --
"A war without end" --
On writing --
A matter of trust --
The writer and the character --
Unquestioned assumptions --
Prides: an essay on writing workshops --
The question I get asked most often --
Old body not writing --
The writer on, and at, her work.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Food for thought, music for ears

I listen to these recorded essays over and over again. Zenlike, invigorating, clever and profound.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Honest and deeply beautiful

This collection truly touched and inspired me. It made me feel a little less alone in this world. I trust her writing, and now I’m a little less scared of Dragons.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Ursula K. Le Guin sounds off

There is plenty to engage any reader in this book. She tackles a wide range of subjects with sharp humor and perception. A great iconoclast. The narrator does a fine job.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!